SUNDAY

"No matter how much you want to, you never unbecome the place you came from," says novelist Rebecca Brown. But what if you feel you come from three places: Cork, Waterford and Roscommon?

Give me a shamrock and I will give you an elegant explanation.

Today, as I watch Waterford rise on wings, two people come to mind.

First, I wish Con Ryan of Tallow, who died recently, had lived a little longer to enjoy it. In the words of his father, the famous tenor Frank Ryan: Angels Guard Thee.

The other person is my fellow judge at the forthcoming Myross Dog Show, that delightful daughter of the Deise, Colette Ware. More to the point, she is is also the daughter of Jim Ware, captain of the Waterford All-Ireland- winning hurling team of 1948.

Colette and I will face our moment of truth at Myross on August 9. Currently Colette has nightmares about Kilkenny cats. But I have cold sweats about west Cork dogs.

Because if I deprive a demented owner of the Cutest Pup prize I could easily end as a candidate for the Most Ladylike Bitch. MONDAY

"Anti-Treaty IRA burn Protestant orphanages to the ground in Galway." So says the sombre headline from July 27, 1922, thrown up by Back Pages, Joe Joyce's always interesting trawl through the Irish Times archive. Today's account treats of the last taboo -- how republicans treated rural Protestants in 1921-22.

The original Irish Times story prudently does not identify the area. To do so might attract further trouble. But I can confirm it was in Clifden as I got a full account of the affair some years ago from a Protestant family.

It was July 1922, the Civil War had started and irregular IRA forces were taking it out on defenceless Protestants. A gang of IRA irregulars called to the Clifden orphanage and demanded the Matron hand over six boys to "be done in". She stoutly refused and spirited the boys away.

Next day, the gang came back, paraded the boys, rounded up others from the fields, and burned the buildings leaving 33 boys and 25 girls without shelter and fearful of their future. A British destroyer came to take them away.

We didn't cherish these children of the nation. But at least we have learned to talk about this last taboo. Most Roman Catholics and real republicans want to make amends.

Not so the Aubane Society, an ultra-nationalist group of provocateurs based in north Cork. Aubane has challenged accounts of IRA atrocities against Protestants in that period. Last week it launched a second book trying to justify the "executions" of two young Cooneyites at Coolacrease in 1921.

Should the Aubane Society decide to publish a book challenging the Irish Times account of the Clifden Affair let me suggest a working title: "The West Brat Spy Ring at Clifden."

TUESDAY

The national question never goes away. Yesterday the Irish Times recorded the IRA's campaign against Protestant orphans in Clifden. Today it carries Sean Donlon's memoir of his campaign against the IRA in the United States in 1980.

Naturally our former ambassador to the USA does not put it as crudely as that. On the surface it was a policy battle between a senior diplomat, Sean Donlon, and the Taoiseach, Charles Haughey. But the IRA's influence on Irish-America was the real issue.

Charles Haughey wanted to recognise the Irish National Caucus, which had links to Noraid, an IRA front. Donlon did not. Thanks to the support of John Hume and the Four Horsemen, Haughey belatedly backed down.

Donlon deserves credit for his courage. He belongs to an era when public service meant precisely that. Before benchmarking.

THURSDAY

In memory of Frank McCourt I make another attempt to read Angela's Ashes. Fact is, I prefer Teacher Man. But no matter. Like Donlon, Frank McCourt did his bit to defeat the IRA in the USA.

Angela's Ashes provides an accurate portrait of a pub republican. As Irish-Americans loved the book, this was no help to Provos peddling Irish nationalism. But as happened after Dermot Morgan and John B Keane died, his admirers seem anxious to play down his anti-Provo side. So let me say this. McCourt had no time for flags. He counted himself a citizen of Limerick, a citizen of New York and thus a citizen of the world.

FRIDAY

Broadly, the media are mellow about Brian Lenihan's brave attempt to bring the banking system back from the brink. This is a tribute to the likeable Lenihan and his superb communication skills. But surely the media were also a bit benign because of the name of Nama?

What's in a name? asks Shakespeare. And answers without conviction: "That which we call a rose, by any other name would smell as sweet."

No Will, it would not, and well you know it.

Surely Lenihan got off a little more lightly because the name of Nama rolls so mellifluously from the lips. Don't believe me? Right, say "National Asset Management Agency." Now say "Nama." Repeat slowly: "Nama, Nama, Nama." Are you seriously telling me that Nama doesn't sound safe and cosy?

Nama echoes Mama. And Mama brings motherly Mary O'Rourke to mind. Say Nama and you see Aunt Mary clasping Brian to her bosom. She promises to absorb all the poisons and give the dirty little debts a good wash before handing them back to Brian, whiter than white.

I may be projecting here. The real Mary O'Rourke is a bit of a red. She probably feels bad bankers should be hanged, drawn and quartered. Perhaps I am projecting again.

Admittedly my anger is fuelled by a recently published polemic by Cearbhall O Dalaigh: Celtic Meltdown -- Why Ireland is Broke and How we Can Fix It (Collins Press Cork). Unlike his presidential namesake, Cearbhall O Dalaigh is a man of the world and does not mince words.

Maybe he should sometimes have done so. He weakens powerful polemic by petty remarks about Bertie Ahern. And his eccentric views on the euro also erode reader confidence. Apart from these asides, however, Celtic Meltdown makes a lot of sense.

Cearbhall proposes cutting public sector pay and pensions, letting bad banks go bust, and using the money to help people re-finance their mortgages. This would free them to start spending again. He also has sound views on new sources of energy, not excluding nuclear power.

But his core challenge is one that Brian Lenihan should take seriously. Why should the taxpayers pay off toxic debts run up by developers while these defaulters walk into the sunset? Lenihan is a likeable man, but he must find the dark side of himself when dealing with bad bankers and greedy developers

SATURDAY

Good to see Stephen Collins back from his break. His straight-talking column in Saturday morning's Irish Times is my first port of call. Stephen cuts straight to the chase. He wants hard cuts in politicians' pay and pensions. And I could not agree more. How else can they expect to carry the people with them?

- Eoghan Harris